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Look, man, I know that midnight releases are a thing of the past. I get it, people love convenience, whether or not that is a good thing is a different argument.
So quick recap, back in the day, people would get hype for a video game's release then go to a Video Game Retailer a few minutes to hours before midnight of release day to get the game as soon as possible. Now mind you, they didn't need to do this as pre-orders existed. But they did it for the excitement and often the socialization that came with such an event. They were eager to play the game ASAP and chat with other fellow excited fans. This was what some experts call "really cool" but has since faded away almost completely.
Now fast forward to good ole' 2014. A little game called Fallout 4 is about to release. I'm ecstatic, the hype train was unreal. So for the first time in my life, with my new fancy Xbox One I pre-order the game through the Xbox Digital Marketplace. I didn't have a car or a way to get to a midnight launch and my family had no interest in going to one if they didn't have to, even for titles they cared about. So anyways, the console let me pre-load it which was crazy to me! I could have the whole game downloaded ahead of time and boot it up the moment the clock ticked to 12AM on November 10th, 2015. So on November 9th, 2015 I stayed up and waited for it to tick over. I played the game until 6AM on a school night, and called out sick the following day. All I did was play that game, it was badass. Now the game may have disappointed me a few ways, but it wasn't bad and it was awesome to be able to play it the moment it hit the release date.
So we went from in person Midnight Launch Parties to Digital Pre-Load Midnight Launches. I'd personally would've loved the best of both worlds, for both to exist together. But if there's anything I know about people, it's that they are generally happier the less they have to do.
Anyways, so those times were fine and dandy. However, recently a video game I have been anticipating since it's announcement is Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. Announced like two months ago on June 26th, 2024, it is projected to release on September 18th, 2024. Now wait a second... that's today! By golly, I bet some of you must think I've been playing the game all day if I had the time to write this crap.
Anyways, so those times were fine and dandy. However, recently a video game I have been anticipating since it's announcement is Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. Announced like two months ago on June 26th, 2024, it is projected to release on September 18th, 2024. Now wait a second... that's today! By golly, I bet some of you must think I've been playing the game all day if I had the time to write this crap.
So Steam let me pre-load the game yesterday, and I was ready. I stayed up all night, waiting for that clock to tick over. My friends who hadn't purchased the game sat in the discord call, waiting for me to stream the game to them at midnight. So we waited and it came, midnight of September 18th. But yet, I couldn't play the game. So I waited a few more minutes, maybe the servers needed to refresh. After 15 minutes I got antsy and decided to look up what was going on.
Apparently, for reasons I'm not certain of the game releases at 8PM on the 18th. So that's already strange enough to me. But what's stranger is that console players will have to wait until midnight on the 19th. That's a whole extra day??? I must have missed this in the fine print, but when the company says the game is coming out on the 18th I'd... ya know, expect it to come out on the 18th, not the 19th. I'm on PC, so I'll technically be playing it today around 8. But what the hell?? In 2014 I could play a game as soon as the clock ticked to 12, in 2007 you could be at the store at midnight then rush home and play the game by 12:30 before you had to install everything on consoles. But now I have to wait til the day is almost over?? Or a whole day passes entirely??? DID I NOT PAY TO PLAY IT ON THE 18th? Evidently not.
So what's going on? I mean, I don't think most game stores were 24/7 back in the day. So I assume midnight launches were only done for particularly popular titles. But even if that were the case, GameStop opens around 12PM. So that's still who 8 hours earlier than what I'm waiting on currently. I just don't get it, it all seems so strange to me. Like companies and just do whatever and nobody cares. I guess I'm part of the issue, giving the industry money at all. But I haven't pre-ordered a game in 8 years, I only did it this go 'round to show support for the franchise, hoping that if I give them money they'll continue to release Dead Rising games rather than abandoning the IP.
I don't know, I suppose there's not a real point to this or anything to be learned. I think the closest I can take from this is that, to me personally, this is another thing in gaming going backwards. But, I do admit I don't mess with new releases usually so maybe it's just this game that has done this. If so, then I'm not happier knowing that, though slightly less jaded about the AAA-industry.
I'd love to hear thoughts on this though! (Not that anyone actually reads and responds to blogs, especially of this long rambling nature.)
Comments
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MetalHeart
Yo I didn't even realize that midnight releases were a thing of the past, just never really thought about it. Very good blog I give 2 kudos!
Thank you!!
by cooldude94; ; Report
Zoseph
So first off I want to acknowledge that you are super valid for being mad at the steady erosion of consumer rights in the form of Huge Game Companies charging vast up charges for only maters of days difference in access to a game. Games that are available on pc have been selling A Single Day head start as a perk teir for a while now, and that should be Illegal bc everyone is funding the finished product by buying the game, and withholding the thing the person bought form one person to give it to another is diabolical bc they aren't being transparent and IT Is The Same Product!!! Will they give us a kickback if their servers go down for a day sometime in the future?? Unheard of, so why does it make sense to allow them to creat a market out of illegal withholding??????
Beyond that GameStop, OneUp Gaming, and most other retailers do not pay enough to schedule anyone after bedtime. The atmophere of working one of those release is crazy, lots of theft attempts and store damage, and most of these retailers do not make it voluntary. If you are wondering how these "Midnight Releases" happened, it has a promo campaign tactic by the games publisher where they paid gamestop/OneUp ect to participate, but the ensuing choas, no extra bonus pay (meaning all that promo money went to gamestop's pockets), how Wack it is to force someone to randomly clock in after the normal closing time and be there till 6 am.... I miss midnight movie releases, but at least movie theaters already have security guards and are open later anyways, and I get why they aren't around anymore (no one wants to offer event bonus anymore)
Thanks for the feedback/input! I appreciate it.
I do acknowledge that these midnight releases were not standard for every title's release, and I assumed they were a promotion of sorts. Thanks for the insight on how it worked for the employees behind the scenes though!
I think with what you've said in mind about the conditions for the employees, it doesn't totally change my opinion but does add some additional points. I stand by midnight releases being super fun, but now mostly explicitly for the consumer. I feel those midnight launches of the past could have been more positive if the employees were fairly compensated and there were enough people on staff. Even servers at restaurants often get large mandatory gratuity for handling big groups of 10+ people, which I think is good to make sure an employee's fairly compensated for more stressful work. But I do think that sounds terrible for the employees of the past.
However, there was a time when more than a couple mega corporations owned the gaming retail space. There were several locally run shops in my town and smaller regional chains as well during the 2000s. I would like to think that at least a few of them were better to their employees than a company as infamous as GameStop. I've seen videos of employees from similar businesses of the time being excited about launch parties, getting involved in all the hype and activities, but that's also presumably also due to their work environment and community they served.
I think what you've said mostly lends itself to the discussion of poor management and business practices. With that in mind, launch parties could have been broadly better and potentially were better for some particular retailers which held better management at the time.
But admittedly, I just long for social events involving mundane dorky hobbies of the past. Particularly gaming and movies. Arcades, Launch Parties, LAN Parties, Video Rental Stores, Movie Theater Events, etc. So I've got my bias.
by cooldude94; ; Report